I am Batman
by Culinary-Alchemist
Summary: Dick reveals who is now under the cowl now, that Bruce is missing. *Revised*


Kid Flash stopped when Batman appeared before him. He may have been in his twenties, but Batman still intimidated him. It didn't matter that he knew him without the cowl. Wally frowned as he noticed that there was something off about the Batman standing in front of him. He was shorter and leaner than Wally remembered, though not by much.

"So, what do you think?" Batman pulled back his cowl in a surprising move. But instead of Bruce Wayne grinning at him, it was his best friend.

"Dude! What? How?" Wally asked, shocked to see Dick sporting the Batman costume. "Does Bruce know? He won't kill you, will he?"

"Bruce is gone, Wally, but Gotham still needs a Batman." Dick told him, solemnly.

"Tim hasn't had any luck yet?" Wally asked.

He glanced behind his friend in order to look at the hooded figure standing there. He was dressed like a Robin except this costume had the signature black cape lined with yellow and red, and topped with a hood. Looking down, Wally noticed that the younger boy wore tall, green boots with red laces.

Not recognizing him, Wally asked, "Who is that?"

Dick laughed. "This is Robin, of course. You know, like who I was . . . Well, before I was Nightwing, I mean."

"Dude! You have your own side kick?" Kid Flash laughed delightedly.

"This is Damian. He's Bruce's son . . ."

"That's Bruce's son!" Wally gaped. Then more quietly, he leaned in close. "Um, isn't he supposed to be a psychopath!?" He didn't know much about the situation.

Dick shrugged. "He's not a bad as you think."

"Who knows about . . . You know, this whole thing?" Wally asked, indicating the change beneath the cowl.

"The League but that's about it. No one else. Listen, Wally, you can't tell anyone! Not even Artemis. I mean it!" He sighed, then. "At least, not yet."

"Does Babs know? What about Nightwing? He's our leader, dude. We need him, too. What if you just tell . . ."

"No one! Just . . . not yet," Dick growled low, sounding for the first time since they began this conversation like the Batman everyone knew. "Nightwing will be on leave for a while. Babs knows, yes, but not anyone else. Promise me, Walls!"

There was more to the story than Dick was letting on. "So, what aren't you telling me? Is this going to be a permanent change? Is this it? You going to be Batman from now on. People are going to notice the change in fighting style; your height and weight are different . . . Dude! What happens to Nightwing?"

"Look," Dick spoke softly. He didn't want Robin overhearing him express anything but confidence. "I don't know if this will be permanent or not. I hope to God that it's not but I don't want to tell them in any case because . . ." His voice dropped even lower. "There's a chance that I could fail. I don't want the team to lose confidence in me if I blow it. I want to be able to come back as Nightwing."

Dick spoke with a quiet honesty. He hadn't wanted to say so much, even to Wally, but the words came out on their own.

"You? Fail?" Wally smirked, "Dick Grayson never fails. If anyone deserves to be promoted to be a headliner, it's you." Wally narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "You know, for someone as normally optimistic as you are, you are really being a downer right now."

"Hey!" Dick began defensively.

"Think about it, Dick. Would Bruce trust you with the cape and cowl if he thought you were going to fail? This is Gotham, we're talking about now. Think on that. He trusts you to carry on the mantle, with his city . . . That has to be mean something!" Wally told him, one hand on his shoulder. He spared another glance at the scowling kid in the hood. "Now, this whole Robin thing . . . _That_ , you may want to reconsider."

Dick laughed, looking over his shoulder at his new partner. Damian scowled back, bored and unamused.

"Dude, seriously . . ." Wally raised his eyebrows, making a face.

"Damian will be just fine," Dick assured him with a grin. "He's promised Bruce and I both that he won't kill anyone."

Robin huffed at being the topic of their conversation. He rolled his eyes, not impressed.

"The little shrimp was trained by the League of Assassins. His grandfather is Ra's al Ghul . . . Killing, I think, is in his blood," Wally whispered. Although he didn't think that the demon child would kill him with Dick standing right there, he'd rather not take chances.

"He's a Wayne, as well, Wally," Dick told him. "You'll see. He's really not a bad kid at heart."

Wally grinned. "He has one of those?"

"Wally . . ." Dick warned but he was smiling, too.

"Fine! I just hope Gotham is ready for the new Batman and Robin." Wally smiled.

Dick pulled the cowl back over his face. "I'm Batman," he growled.

Wally shivered at the change. "You sure are."

* * *

 **A/N: Dick telling Wally in true Grayson style! What do you think?**

 **Also I have some other fics posted under the Batman category, so check them out too! Both are Dick Grayson centric**

 **Shout out to Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt for betaing me on this little fic :)**


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